Where Our Data Comes From: Tomsk Observatory, NOAA & How to Verify It Yourself

Where Our Data Comes From: Tomsk Observatory, NOAA & How to Verify It Yourself

Every number in ResonanceOne traces back to a public scientific instrument: Schumann Resonance measurements from Tomsk State University in Siberia, geomagnetic data from NOAA and the GFZ centre in Potsdam, and solar flare readings from NOAA's GOES satellites. Nothing is estimated, vibed, or invented in-house.

This page is the full chain of custody: which instrument measures what, who runs it, how the data reaches your screen, and, most importantly, how to check our numbers against the primary sources yourself. In a topic area crowded with unsourced claims, we'd rather show our receipts.

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Signal 1: Schumann Resonance, Tomsk State University

The Schumann Resonance, Earth's ~7.83 Hz electromagnetic resonance, driven by global lightning, is measured by a small number of research stations worldwide. The most widely used public source, and ours, is the Space Observing System at Tomsk State University in Tomsk, Siberia, which has monitored the resonance continuously since 1999.

Why Tomsk?

Measuring a signal of roughly one picotesla, millions of times weaker than Earth's static magnetic field, demands an electromagnetically quiet site. Tomsk's monitoring station sits away from urban interference, which is precisely why a Siberian university became the de facto public reference for this data:

• Low electromagnetic noise: far from dense power grids, rail lines, and radio clutter that drown the signal near cities.
• Continuous record: a mostly unbroken data series stretching back over 25 years, which matters enormously for distinguishing real anomalies from normal variation.
• Open publication: the observatory publishes its charts publicly, which means anyone (including you) can look at the same data we use.

What the instruments actually are

Schumann Resonance stations use induction coil magnetometers (sensitive coils that convert tiny fluctuations in the magnetic field into measurable voltage), sampling the extremely-low-frequency range where the resonance lives (roughly 1–40 Hz). The raw signal is processed with spectral analysis (FFT) to extract the resonance modes: the 7.83 Hz fundamental and its harmonics near 14.3, 20.8, 27.3, and 33.8 Hz, each with a frequency and an amplitude. If you've seen the famous green-and-yellow "Schumann spectrogram" shared online, that image is Tomsk data; we explain how to read it (and how it gets misread) in How to Read a Schumann Resonance Chart.

The honest caveats

Data transparency cuts both ways, so here is what a single-station source means:

• Amplitude is partly local. Frequency readings agree closely between stations worldwide, but amplitude reflects both global lightning activity and conditions near the specific station. Tomsk's amplitude and a station elsewhere won't match exactly; neither is "wrong."
• Gaps happen. Sensitive instruments need maintenance; power and network connections fail; local interference occasionally forces data to be discarded. When the chart goes blank, that is station downtime, not Earth's resonance "stopping," and not a cover-up. When our source has a gap, we show the gap.
• Other networks exist. HeartMath's Global Coherence Initiative runs its own small network of magnetometer sites. Different processing and site conditions mean their numbers differ from Tomsk's, a useful reminder that "the Schumann Resonance today" is a measurement with error bars, not a single cosmic scoreboard.

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Signal 2: Geomagnetic Activity, GFZ Potsdam & NOAA SWPC

The Kp index, the 0–9 scale for geomagnetic disturbance, has one of the longest pedigrees in geophysics. Introduced by Julius Bartels in 1932, the official index is calculated today by the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, from a network of 13 geomagnetic observatories distributed around the planet. Each observatory measures how much Earth's local magnetic field deviates from its quiet-day baseline over 3-hour windows; the standardized average becomes the planetary Kp.

Because the official GFZ value is finalized with a delay, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), the US government's operational space weather agency, publishes a near-real-time estimated Kp from its own ground magnetometer network. That real-time feed is what ResonanceOne uses for live values, the same feed relied on by aurora chasers, power grid operators, and satellite operators worldwide.

Storm labels follow NOAA's G-scale: G1 (Kp 5) through G5 (Kp 9), as covered in our flare vs. CME vs. geomagnetic storm explainer.

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Signal 3: Solar Activity, NOAA GOES Satellites

Solar flare data comes from the X-ray sensors aboard NOAA's GOES satellites, which stare at the Sun continuously from geostationary orbit. Flares are classified A, B, C, M, X by their peak X-ray brightness, an instrumental measurement, not a judgment call. Our solar activity today page and the app's solar component both reflect the current GOES X-ray flux and the day's flare events, as published by NOAA SWPC.

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From Source to Screen: What We Do (and Don't Do)

The pipeline between those instruments and your phone is deliberately short:

1. Fetch: we pull fresh data from each source on an hourly cycle (Schumann Resonance) and at near-real-time intervals (Kp, solar).
2. Translate: raw values become the plain-language readings you see: frequency, amplitude, Kp with its storm label, flare class.
3. Combine: the ResonanceOne Activity Index weights the three signals (70% Schumann Resonance, 25% Kp index, 5% solar activity) into a single 0–100 number. The weighting is our editorial choice, and we publish it, so you always know what the number means.
4. Never fabricate: if a source is down, we show the gap or the last real reading with its timestamp. No interpolated drama, no invented spikes.

What we deliberately don't do: attach health claims to the readings. The data tells you what Earth's electromagnetic environment is doing; whether that correlates with anything in your body is a personal question the app helps you test with mood tracking, not a conclusion we sell you.

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How to Verify Our Numbers Yourself

This is the part we most want you to actually do:

If our numbers ever disagree with the primary source, the source is right and we have a bug. Report it and we'll fix it. That's the whole policy.

This is also our standing answer to "is this app scientific?": the data is mainstream geophysics from university and government instruments. The interpretation, how geomagnetic conditions relate to sleep, mood, or energy, is an open research question we present as such, with the evidence reviewed honestly in geomagnetic storm effects on humans.

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FAQ

Where does Schumann Resonance data come from?

The most widely used public source is the Space Observing System at Tomsk State University in Siberia, monitoring continuously since 1999 with induction magnetometers at a low-interference site. ResonanceOne's Schumann data comes from Tomsk; HeartMath's Global Coherence Initiative runs a separate, smaller network.

Is Schumann Resonance data real and scientific?

Yes. The resonance was predicted by Winfried Otto Schumann in 1952, confirmed in the early 1960s, and is measured today by research observatories with induction magnetometers. The measurements are as real as a seismograph reading; it's the interpretations layered on top that require skepticism.

Why does the Schumann Resonance chart sometimes go blank?

Station downtime: maintenance, power or network outages, or local electromagnetic interference. Gaps are normal instrument operations, not evidence of a cover-up. When our source has a gap, we show the gap rather than inventing numbers.

Where does the Kp index come from?

The official Kp is calculated by the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam from 13 geomagnetic observatories worldwide, a series running since 1932. NOAA SWPC publishes a near-real-time estimated Kp, which is what ResonanceOne uses for live values.

Can I verify ResonanceOne's data myself?

Yes. Every source is public: Tomsk State University for Schumann Resonance, NOAA SWPC and GFZ Potsdam for Kp, NOAA's GOES X-ray data for flares. If our numbers disagree with the source, the source wins.

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See the live data with its sources attached: Schumann Resonance, Kp index, and solar activity, or get the free ResonanceOne app for the combined Activity Index with push alerts.